This blog is about my short, simple and personal reflections on the daily Holy Mass Gospel. I conduct talks and I facilitate Spiritual Recollections. YOU ARE FREE TO SHARE,USE OR LINK THIS GOOD NEWS WITH YOUR WEBSITE! (Romans 1:16). GOD BLESS YOU!

Quotations:

I am with you always until the end of this world - Jesus (Matthew 28:20).

Preach the Word in season and out of season reproving, rebuking or advising always with patience and providing instructions (2 Timothy 4:2).

Saturday, May 30, 2009

My Reflections:
This Sunday the church celebrates Pentecost Sunday, we honor the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ.

In Isaiah 11:2 the gifts of the Holy Spirit are the following: Wisdom, Understanding, the gift of Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. When Jesus said to them receive the Holy Spirit along with it I am very sure that they received these gifts also. That’s why when the disciples were commissioned by Jesus they were all full of zeal to spread the good news of our salvation even at the risk of their martyrdom.

How can we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and how can we have the gifts that Isaiah mentions? We need first to develop a deep intimacy with Jesus and then without us knowing it we are slowly being ushered into the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives until such time that we have a full awareness of its presence in us.

The Holy Spirit dictates on us to always do good, to forgive those who have hurt us. It acts as our conscience that bothers us whenever we do wrong, it impels us to do good also. As much as possible it wants to permanently reside within us. But it also moves away from us the moment we start to do things contrary to the will of God for us. It is therefore imperative for us to always be attuned to what God wants us to do and that is to always follow His will.

On the first part of the gospel, Jesus greeted the disciples: “Peace be with you.” He did this twice to assure them that amidst the coming persecution from the Jews. The peace that Jesus gives us is priceless it cannot be quantified by any amount of money or any material possession.

Jesus gives this peace to us through the Holy Spirit the moment we start to have faith and trust in Him.

What are the things that bother you right now? Is it sickness, Money, Unstable family relationship? Humbly ask Jesus to give you His peace and invite the Holy Spirit to come into your life.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

My Reflections:There’s always a responsibility attached to the word love. We cannot love without sacrifice; we cannot love without emptying ourselves for the person that we love. The word love is not a lip service word it is always coupled with positive action for those whom we love.In the gospel Jesus asked Simon Peter three times: “Do you love me?” and whenever Simon Peter replies in the affirmative Jesus always gives him a responsibility (Feed my lambs, Tend my sheep, Feed my sheep) that he must do to substantiate his love.This is also what Jesus wants us to do if we profess to love Him. For we cannot love God if we purposely turn a blind eye to the needs of others.

My Reflections:
The selfless and loving character of Jesus is very evident in the gospel; He prayed for the disciples and to those who will believe Him through their preaching. He prayed for us that we will be one with Him and the Father.

We must also do our share of praying for those who don’t believe, for those who don’t take their faith in God seriously. They may be our friends and relatives; let us pray to God that He touches their hearts so that they will have an awareness of how good God is.

Let us also pray for those who have crossed to the afterlife, they also need our prayers; let us not forget them.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

My Reflections:
There’s a story of a young husband who went abroad to work. The night before his departure he had a heart to heart talk with his wife. He told her of the things that he wanted to happen to his children and the discipline that he wants to be imposed on them. So that even if he is not present their children could still be properly guided by his wife. The wife said yes to all of their agreements.

After fifteen years he decided to retire from his work abroad, thus he went home for good with great expectations from his wife and his grown-up children. To his disappointment he found out that his family was in disarray. Some of his children were into drugs and wayward friendships, his wife had an illicit relationship. The husband was naturally very disappointed.

In the gospel, before Jesus was taken into heaven He gave an obligation to the disciples (Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15). They followed to the letter what Jesus had told them even at the expense of their lives.

By virtue of our Baptism we are also being tasked by Jesus to proclaim the gospel. Are we like the disciples who faithfully followed it?

Sometimes we are wary of sharing our faith to others, I don’t know for what reason. Are we ashamed to share God’s goodness to others? If we are really faithful followers of Jesus We must take courage to share Jesus and the miracles that He will do to their lives.

Once we do, we will also see that Jesus will bless us also (perhaps not in material things for we often equate God’s blessings to the material things that we receive from Him.) To know Him and have a deep friendship with Jesus is the greatest blessing that we can have. This is a blessing that He gives to those who faithfully follow His will.

Have you not yet shared Jesus and His teachings? It’s about time that you share the good news about Him, Start within your family first. ...

My Reflections:Our intimacy with Jesus comes in different shapes; an infancy intimacy is when we treat Jesus as a God who will give us what we need. We ask Him to help us in everything; nothing is wrong with that.

A more mature intimacy or adult intimacy is when we don’t ask Jesus anymore for our needs. We just rely by our faith that Jesus will give us everything for He is an all knowing God. We believe that He knows everything about our needs, our hurts and our sorrows too.

He will help us in His own time and terms, we just need to wait and be patient.

Friday, May 22, 2009

My Reflections:The cycle of life will always tell us that after our anguish there will be joy. Notice what happens during funeral; after intense crying (especially when the casket is being laid down to the grave)) comes smiles relatives will now exchange little smiles & talk.

Jesus in the gospel was already preparing the disciples for His eventual arrest & passion. But He followed it up by saying that after that you will all be joyful for I will rise again to be with you forever.

This feeling of joy that Jesus gives us is ours to take it’s perpetually there for us try to discover it. start by unburdening all your pains and hurts to Jesus and observe what happens next after you’ve unburden your worries to Him. ...

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Reflections:When Jesus said to his disciples: “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve but your grief will become joy.” Jesus was already alluding about his forthcoming passion that he has to go through and to his subsequent resurrection. He even compared it with a woman who is in labor pains but after she has given birth she will forget that painful experience altogether because of the great joy that the newly born child has given her.

Our walk with God will not always be a bed of roses, there will be trials, and sometimes we will be persecuted because of what we do for God.

In spite of these all let us continue to follow Jesus, for at the end there will be great rejoicing in store for those who are faithful to Him. …

My Reflections:The Holy Spirit speaks to us through our conscience it always guides us to do what is right, just and moral. It always wants us to follow its leading for us because that is the right thing to do. But there are times that we don’t follow what it wants us to do.

We overpower it by following the selfish dictates of our own minds. For example: in a married couple’s relationship or even in friendship. There would always be instances that there are disagreements sometimes it leads to animosity. The Holy Spirit would speak to us through our conscience and it will tell us to make amends.

Often times we refuse to follow the Holy Spirit we instead choose to follow our own will which is always contrary to the will of God.

Monday, May 18, 2009

My Reflections:
Once in a while a felling of grief or sorrow pops-up into our lives; this is part and parcel of our life’s process. It is also during this point that we feel an utmost need for God. Because we feel it in our hearts that it is only through God where we can find comfort amidst our feeling of grief or sorrow. During these times money or any thing for that matter will not be able to compensate for God.

In the gospel, the feeling of grief was in the disciple’s hearts because Jesus will be leaving them soon. But Jesus promised them a constant companion that will be with them always as if He has not left them.

This is also the same companion that Jesus has given us during our Baptism and Confirmation. It’s within us; we just need to discern it. ...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

My Reflections:Once in a while our discipleship for Jesus will be tested: it comes when we steadfastly refuse to succumb to the temptation of the flesh, money and other things that would move us away from the love of God.

Temptation of the flesh comes in many forms for example a husband who is being seduced by a very willing officemate. To accept bribes and to corrupt or pocket money that is not ours is also very tempting. Once we refuse these evil things there will be those who will look at us differently and hate us in the process.

Let us all be steadfast in our discipleship for Christ let us not be afraid if people will look at us differently. Let us always remember that the trappings of this world is temporary, it’s fleeting. ...

Saturday, May 9, 2009

My Reflections:There’s a story of a pious man; he was active in their church, he was a responsible father and husband. His friends and relatives look-up to him for he lived his life worthy in the eyes of God and men. However, there was one instance wherein he meet a woman and that meeting created a fatal attraction between them. He threw away his Godly values and he coveted the woman.

In the process of his covetous desires his family and personal life started to suffer. Before he knew he was already living a miserable life.

This story happens to everyone of us, we sometimes choose to lead our lives our way not on God’s way. Often times we are very stubborn to follow what we want even if we know that what we want is wrong. We follow our selfish desires and not the desire of God.

In the gospel episode this Sunday Jesus tells us that He is our vine and God is our vine grower. He urges us to remain in Him no matter what happens in our lives. For through Him emanates all graces; sometimes there are instances wherein we also encounter trials/temptations. We must not let these trials/temptations be an instrument of our separation from God.

What are these temptations that often steers us away from God? It’s the temptation of the flesh, the temptation to engage in corrupt acts just to fatten our wallets. There’s a lot more temptation out there waiting to capture us.

We must not cut ourselves from the true Vine and the Vine grower for it is through them that we will experience happiness that will outlast our lifetime.

Eventually we will die, perhaps one of the questions that God will ask us before we are allowed entry into heaven is this: Did you remain with me in your lifetime? Did you not allow the temptations of the world cut you off from me; your True Vine?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

My Reflections:It is part of a charismatic renewal movement to have prayer meetings and in that prayer meeting members specially the new ones are encourage to share their personal experiences with God.

Sharers would often say: “I was formerly living my life in the darkness of sin but the merciful God has touched me and He showed me the light.” This is a true and moving statement because there’s always a part of our life’s journey that we commit sin, we fall down.

But God in His infinite mercy will always show us the path that leads to Him. God will use people or meaningful events in our lives to touch us and show us His light.

We must earnestly follow that light for it is the beginning of our blissful journey with God. Of course there will be bumps or trials once in a while. We will be able to overcome these bumps or trials for so long as we remain with the light that is Jesus.

My Reflections:Until this very moment the Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Christ. But we believe in Jesus’ Lordship that He is also God and the second person in the Trinity. As such we must endeavor to hear Jesus’ voice in the celebration of the Holy Mass. In reading the Bible and obey the proclamations of Jesus there.

Jesus expects us to hear and obey His voice, Jesus expects us to be His faithful followers, His co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord. Once we do all of these things faithfully the grace of the Holy Spirit will be upon us and it will open our minds to the truths of eternal life.